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Asbestos discovery raises more questions on LHA renovations

By Lyle Moran, lmoran@lowellsun.com

Updated:
10/28/2012 12:17:59 PM EDT

LOWELL - A company hired by the Lowell Housing Authority to find out how much asbestos is present at the LHA's major housing developments found asbestos in the only unit at North Common Village it surveyed this past summer.

ATC Associates of Woburn found the asbestos in the second layer of floor tile and associated mastic in 290 Adams St., Unit 231. It also found asbestos in the black sink coating on the underside of the kitchen sink.

The company's discovery of asbestos in an unrenovated unit comes in addition to LHA Executive Director Gary Wallace's comments over the summer that asbestos was found last spring in the floor tile of two other North Common units that were not renovated.

ATC's discovery, in tandem with Wallace's comments, is once again raising some questions about whether asbestos was present and removed during the LHA's renovations of 132 North Common units from 2008 to 2011.

Earlier this month, the state Inspector General's Office released a letter with its determination that no asbestos was abated or removed during the LHA renovations beginning in 2008. The IG and FBI retained an independent expert to test material allegedly from North Common and that allegedly contained asbestos, but said they found allegations of illegal removal unfounded.

The Sun obtained a copy of ATC's July 12 report on the Adams Street unit from the LHA in mid-October.

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One reason ATC's finding of asbestos is raising questions is because three other units in the 290 Adams St. building where it was found were renovated during the North Common rehab.

The asbestos was also found in one part of the units, the floor tile, where City Councilor Rodney Elliott had said people involved with the project told him asbestos-containing materials were removed.

Further, it is unclear if the Inspector General's Office ever received a copy of ATC's report before concluding its joint investigation with the FBI.

Jack Meyers, a spokesman for new Inspector General Glenn Cunha, said he could not comment on whether the ATC report was provided or not.

Wallace did not respond to multiple requests for comment over the past week.

It is unclear why the LHA only surveyed one North Common unit this summer, since it tested more units at other developments. ATC recently surveyed more than a half-dozen other North Common units and will provide the LHA with the results in the coming weeks.

ATC Project Manager David Mitchell told The Sun the asbestos found in the second layer of green floor tile and mastic in the Adams Street unit is not a health risk, but is the type that needs to be removed when new floors are going to be put in. During the North Common rehab, the units were gutted down to the studs and new flooring was put in.

According to ATC's report, 2 percent nonfriable asbestos was found in second layer of floor tile and 5 percent asbestos was found in the sink coating. Nonfriable asbestos is less likely to crumble, which can emit airborne asbestos fibers and cause a serious health threat.

Mitchell said the asbestos in the unit has since been removed. Identifying the presence of asbestos in housing materials and preventing exposure to them is important because exposure to asbestos-containing materials can cause cancer.

Wallace has not provided the addresses of the other two units at North Common where asbestos was found this spring, but said they were units that had tenants occupying them for many years.

Two percent nonfriable asbestos was found in the tiles of the units, Wallace said, which was the same percentage found in the second layer of floor tile at the North Common unit surveyed by ATC.

Wallace said this summer he believes 99 percent of units with nonfriable asbestos floor tile were removed 25-plus years ago, but there are a handful remaining.

"To the best of our knowledge, there were zero nonfriable asbestos floor tiles in the 132 renovated units," Wallace said at the time.

The LHA has pointed to a 1988 contract with the Northern Asbestos Abatement Company as one piece of evidence of prior asbestos abatement at North Common. But a Sun review of a copy of the 1988 contract the LHA provided to the city indicates the abatement work had nothing to do with housing units, but instead called for the removal of asbestos from boilers and pipes in the buildings' basement crawl spaces.

This summer, ATC found asbestos remaining in some of those crawl spaces and recommended it be removed.

ATC also found 20-30 percent asbestos in the second layer of flooring in the bathrooms of all 10 George Flanagan units it tested.

ATC surveyed the units prior to the expected kitchen and bath renovation work in the units and recommended the asbestos be abated. Mitchell said the LHA followed through and abated it.

The LHA did not test the North Common units for asbestos prior to the renovations beginning.

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